Mayor launches petition for historic language program's return to small Quebec town
CBC
In just over a week, more than 700 people have signed a petition asking for the return of Western University's French Immersion School to Trois-Pistoles, Que.
The remote town, located 250 kilometres from Quebec City, has been an ideal setting for anglophones wanting to learn French in an immersive setting for over 90 years.
But faced with a dwindling number of host families, the school announced last fall it was suspending the 2024 session and had put the program "under review" to assess the way forward.
The move was a surprise to people like Suzanne Lavoie, a resident of Trois-Pistoles who had hosted students for the past 20 years.
Lavoie's is one of the signatures on the petition, which hopes to help signal a sense of urgency to bring back the language program for the 2025 session.
"This school is very important for the community," she said. "I think that's very exceptional what we have here."
Lavoie, who has also worked as a teacher at the language school, says this program gave opportunities to people in town and also allowed her to share her culture.
She says the program's suspension is a "very big economic issue" and has had an impact on locals' jobs and even businesses like grocery stores, restaurants and bars in town.
Mayor Philippe Guilbert formed a committee of residents and, at the end of February, launched the petition to mobilize support in the town of 3,200.
"We are worried," said Guilbert. "I hope we will be able to convince Western to keep that program alive in 2025."
"We really want to show how much [the] French immersion school in Trois-Pistoles is important … It's kind of in our blood."
Outside of the cancelled summer session in 2024, Guilbert says the only other time the school was forced to suspend activity was during the pandemic in 2020.
He's hoping the pause is temporary and not an indication that the program might be phased out completely.
"Any scenario can happen right now," said Guilbert. "We have to adapt."
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